Expanding space for dialogue

Dialogue is an essential part of addressing conflict. In order to help build foundations for just and sustainable peace, we create the opportunities for people in conflict to discuss how to resolve the issues that have divided them and how they will live together peacefully in the future.

Bringing people together

Conflicts generate practical and emotional divisions in societies. They create environments where there are extremely limited opportunities to meet with the ‘other side’, and where negative stereotypes and enemy images thrive. In the absence of exchange, adversarial narratives about the root causes of conflict are allowed to flourish.

As an organisation not directly impacted by the conflicts, we are able to help overcome logistical and political difficulties to bring different people together. We can also include those who are otherwise excluded from dialogue, such as women or youth.These dialogue initiatives are particularly important when official efforts to resolve the conflict are absent or stalled.

Overcoming conflict divides

Supporting dialogue across conflict divides enables significant peacebuilding opportunities. It allows parties to the conflict and conflict-affected communities to deal with the past by acknowledging and understanding each other’s experiences and grievances.

It breaks down misconceptions and builds trust and relationships. It provides the space for new perspectives on how to address the conflict, and builds momentum that can encourage change and inspire official peace talks.

In various contexts, we have been able to break down barriers between people from different sides of a conflict or connect those from different regions of the same conflict. Often, such dialogue processes begin with hostility and difficult conversations, but end with participants finding common ground.

Our aim is to bring people closer together. It’s important to give conflict a face. We want to provide people with a platform where they can talk and learn.

Margarita Akhvlediani, co-founder and leader of Go Group Media, South Caucasus